South African swimmers qualify for the Olympics

The SA National Swimming Championships were successfully concluded on Sunday with 12 athletes making the Olympic and 16 multi-disability swimmers clocking the Paralympic Qualifying Times during the week-long competition which took part at the Kings Park Aquatic Centre in Durban.

Chad Le Clos was the star of the SA National Swim Champs

Karin Prinsloo, Wendy Trott, Heerden Herman, Kevin Paul, Charl Bouwer, Craig Groenewald, Challis Wright, Yvonne Smith and Natalie du Toit entrenched their names firmly in the minds of the national selectors as they added their name to the list of Olympic and Paralympic level qualifying mark on the last evening of the SA National Aquatic Championships.

Natalie du Toit was in fine form at the SA pool Champs.

Prinsloo sped to a golden finish in the 200m backstroke with a phenomenal 2:10.76 ahead of Jessica Ashley-Cooper in 2:16.53 and Natasha van Niekerk in 2:16.97.

Finishing over ten seconds ahead of the pack, Trott scooped the gold in the 800m freestyle with an Olympic Qualifying Time of 8:30.61. Jessica Pengelly and Michelle Weber came second and third in 8:41.40 and 8:44.10 respectively.

It was a heart-stopping race to the end as Heerden Herman took the lead in the 1500m freestyle, winning in an Olympic Qualifying Time of 15:07.99 ahead of Mark Randall in 15:27.38 and Myles Brown in 15:31.68.

Paralympian Natalie du Toit was once again in top form adding her sixth Qualifying Time in the 200m individual medley in 2:37.30 while Renette Bloem made her second time in 3:30.50.

Chad le Clos’s outstanding performances earned him his fourth gold medal of the Championship, three of which were raced with Olympic Qualifying Times, when he touched the wall in 52.45 in the 100m butterfly. Dylan Bosch claimed the silver in 53.89 and Neil Watson the bronze in 54.43.

Suzaan van Biljon qualified for the 200m breastroke.

In the 50m breaststroke, Suzaan van Biljon took home the title, clocking 32.61 with Taryn Mackenzie (32.78) coming in second and Justine Macfarlane (33.29) third while on the men’s side, Warren Karsten was victorious in 29.10 ahead of Rory Buck (29.16) and Jared Pike (29.26).

Besides the senior athletes, a pool of raising talent participated in the competition, proving once again that the future of swimming inSouth Africais indeed bright. 20 year-old Brad Tandy was close on the heels of Roland Schoeman in the 50m butterfly, settling for the silver in 22.35, while Schoeman grabbed the gold in 22.23 and Gideon Louw the bronze in 22.45.

Veteran Roland Schoeman has also qualified for London 2012

Trudy Maree was over the moon with her gold medal in the 50m freestyle, clocking a fast 25.38 ahead of Lehesta Kemp in 26.17 and Karin Prinsloo in 26.26.

Charl Crous collected his third gold medal when he won the 50m backstroke in 25.66. Ricky Ellis came second in 25.98 and Darren Murray third in 26.30.

Australia’s Sophie Edington showed great pace in the 50m backstroke, winning in 28.82 while Jessica Ashley-Cooper won the silver in 29.75 and Any Peens the bronze in 30.35.

During the week long competition, 17 Olympic and 39 Paralympic Qualifying Times were claimed by 12 and 16 athletes respectively.

The final Olympic and Paralympic team will be selected by SASCOC.

The following athletes swam Qualifying Times for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games which will take place in London: